Who's In Charge Here?

I want to make something perfectly clear: The Church has never and will never save anyone, that work is the exclusive work of our Savior, Jesus. With that said, Jesus has commissioned the Church to serve as an usher to lead others to His throne of grace and salvation. Isn't that awesome!

Yet, when you stop to look at the Church today you have to be discouraged. Are we giving the world a clear view of the deep compassion of Jesus? Does the world understand the mercy of our Savior as they interact with us? Can a person who is struggling with sin know the power of Jesus to deliver them from the sin that is killing them by knowing and hearing us? Does a person who does not know the powerful presence of Almighty God feel His glory when they are in our presence? Does the watching world fully grasp the glory and grandeur of Almighty God by visiting our church? These are tough questions which ought to humble us, cause us to weep in sorrow before His glorious throne, and cry out for forgiveness for the erroneous lessons we are teaching those around us.

When we are confronted with the present predicament we have to ask, "Who is in charge here?" Without thinking about the question we would normally answer, "Well, the pastor is of course." Someone else might say, "Well, the Elders and Deacons are the ones in charge." A few might say, "I think the Chairman of the Board is the decision maker." Others might offer, "The Committee heads are leading the church." All of these answers, though honest and sincere are sincerely wrong. The pastor is not in charge and neither are the Elders, Deacons, Chairman of the Board, or Committee heads -- Jesus is in charge, He is the Head of the Church. That is the way God has designed the Church anyway. Whenever anyone else seeks to usurp His authority then the church is headed on a collision course with destruction and its demise is just around the corner.

It is much like the story Max Lucado has told in his book, In The Eye of the Storm. Max says,

In U.S. Navel Institute Proceedings, the magazine of the Naval Institute, Frank Koch illustrates the importance of obeying the Laws of the Lighthouse.

Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers in heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities. Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing reported, "Light, bearing on the starboard bow." "Is it steady or moving astern?" the captain called out. The lookout replied, "Steady, Captain," which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship. The captain then called to the signalman, "Signal that ship: 'We are on a collision course, advise you change course twenty degrees.'" Back came the signal, "Advisable for you to change course twenty degrees." The captain said, "Send: "I'm a captain, change course twenty degrees.'" "I'm a seaman second-class," came the reply. "You had better change course twenty degrees." By that time the captain was furious. He spat out, "Send: 'I'm a battleship. Change course twenty degrees.'" Back came the flashing light, "I'm a lighthouse." We changed course. (In the Eye of the Storm, Max Lucado, Word Publishing, 1991. Page 153)